Sir, I had meant to ask whether any of your readers knew what was being done in the centre of the stationary traffic round the Thornhill car park junction, but I see from your piece on page three (May 19) at least what is being done, although I am unclear as to why. I am also unclear as to how quickly. I have already spent a number of hours in the traffic jams (on the Oxford Tube). The work does not seem to start early or continue late. So far I have never seen more than two people actually working and never fewer than twice that number observing the work.

While I appreciate that the systematic neglect of maintenance on that stretch could not continue indefinitely (the surface has been breaking up for months) I cannot help fearing that the work will prove no more durable than other recent road repairs around the city. I don't live in one of the villages around, and I can sympathise with residents suffering from rat-runners, but I have more sympathy with the thousands who cannot avoid the junction and lose thousands of hours of time and thousands of pounds worth of wasted fuel and extra pollution.

I don't know who at the council is responsible for trying to convince the Oxford motorist that attempting to travel around the city by car is futile and doomed to failure, but, what with the Northern Bypass delays, the Eastern Bypass delays and now this, they must be looking at 2006 as a major highlight of their career if not a personal best. Alternatively, someone tasked with keeping the traffic flowing appears not to be doing the job properly.

Philip Cresswell, Oxford